In chapter III, SOLAS determines that certain types of vessels must carry life rafts on board which are automatically self-righting so that the life rafts upon inflation, in case the vessel is sinking, will automatically turn to the designed position when they inflate. The specific requirements applying to the function and testing of automatically self-righting life rafts are set out in the IMO resolution MSC.48(66) and MSC.81(70), according to which automatically self-righting life rafts should inter alia be self-draining. Furthermore, for all inflatable life rafts it is required that the bottoms of the life rafts shall be made with a type of insulation, and that the necessary bollard pull required to tow the rafts at a speed of 2 and 3 knots, respectively, must be determined by means of testing and be stated on the life raft certificate. The latter requirement results from the life rafts having to be towable from a sinking vessel by means of the MOB/FRC boats of the vessel or by the lifeboats. This means that the authority approving the evacuation equipment of the vessel must ensure that the lifeboats may exhibit the bollard pull required to tow the biggest life raft on the vessel. Especially in the case of large life rafts, a high bollard pull is required, meaning that the MOB/FRC boats must be designed with large engine powers in order to ensure compliance with the requirements.
Hence, there is a need for an inflatable floatable unit which meets all the above statutory requirements as well as other requirements.